until we're the special two once again
by still-trusting-no1
Summary: 7x13 Betrayed missing scene. "You'll get square eyes," she says, deadpan, as he rewinds again - and she doesn't pause for his reaction like she used to, but it's a start. Goren/Eames.


**Title: **i will fight (until we're the special two once again)

**Pairing:** Goren/Eames

**Spoilers: **_7x13 Betrayed _missing scene; references to _1x02 Art, 3x15 Shrink-Wrapped, 1x04 The Faithful, 5x05 Acts of Contrition_, and _1x01 One._

**Disclaimer:** _Law & Order: Criminal Intent _belongs to Dick Wolf, NBC et al. No copyright infringement is intended.

**Author's Notes: **title from Missy Higgins' _The Special Two_

**Summary: **"You'll get square eyes," she says, deadpan, as he rewinds again - and she doesn't pause for his reaction like she used to, but it's a start.

* * *

She's on the phone when the ATM surveillance tape of Avery comes in; she signs for it, phone cradled between her cheek and shoulder, and he stares at the open folder in front of him. She tosses the tape onto his desk, and he looks up, startled. She jerks her chin, tells him in a silent language he's spent eight years learning to get started, that she'll be done in a minute.

His mouth twists to the side as he turns to check the empty conference rooms; he decides, instead, to drag the television over (lest she think he's taken off without her, he rationalises), settles on the edge of her desk, a little hesitantly, and starts to watch.

"Maine PD's faxing something over," she says to his back, hanging up the phone, and he nods, silently

She stands beside him for a moment, and he toys with the remote. She eventually steps over his legs (yesterday, would've taken the long way around) and perches next to him.

"You'll get square eyes," she says, deadpan, as he rewinds again - and she doesn't pause for his reaction like she used to, but it's a start (_baby steps_, he tells himself). "Are you looking at anything in particular?" she adds, a little pointedly.

His leg shifts, bumps hers, and she doesn't pull away.

He pauses, rewinding again, before shrugging. "I just like to watch," he replies, off-hand - risks a glance at her, wills her to remember -

_("I'm not interested in living with it," he says during one of their first cases, glancing down at her briefly, the fake Monet behind him. "I'm interested in thinking about it," and she shakes her head, a tiny smile forming._

_Nearly three years later, she steps up behind him, as he examines the painting. "Is this what you mean by art that makes you think?" she asks, dryly - knows he'll understand, and he does).  
_

- to meet him halfway -

_("You thinking of converting?" she asks early on in their partnership, picking up the book on his desk, "'Cause I think Father Capanna would love to baptize you."_

_"Too late," he replies, distractedly. "You're speaking to a lapsed altar boy."_

_"Ah, I should've known," she says, amused, "The disregard for authority, the fascination with bad behaviour..."_

_Sometime after more than four years of working together, they're crouched on the floor of a church, examining wax, and she glances over at him, hair tucked behind her ears. "You're the lapsed altar boy," she says, gently mocking, "What's the religious significance of wax?" and he stares at her for a moment, wonders how many of their conversations she remembers).  
_

- to pick up the nearly eight-year-old conversation.

_("Am I missing something?" she asks, not long after they've been partnered together, and he hasn't yet learnt to think out loud, and she's not as patient with his silence as she will be in the years to come, so it comes out short, almost snippy._

_"I just like to watch," he replies, and it's maybe intentionally oblivious._

_"I like to listen," she replies, immediately, "I'm meeting a snitch down at the Coronet.")  
_

She snorts softly, glances down at her hands, clasped in her laps, her hair falling across her cheek. "Well, I like to listen," she finally says, decisively, meeting his gaze for the first time. "So explain it to me."

He gazes back at her - she raises her eyebrows, and the pressure in his chest eases slightly, because she's _trying_, she is.

They both are.

**end**


End file.
